In the morning, Warren says, he left two messages with Leckeys secretary and two more that afternoon. Oh, yeah, he almost got shot, says Eric, laughing. So we ate at Pazzos pizza pub. He scored a joint before checking into a hole-in-the-wall and falling asleep. When she asked for contact information, Spencer gave her his cell-phone number. Attempting perfection in writing a business plan will only lead to one end result: the business plan will never be written. It was only a tennis final, Eric says, but that final that day was actually harder than I thought it was going to be. As a child he drew and painted and his abilities led him to consider a career as an artist whilst at High School. In exchange, Barry slipped him an e-mail address with instructions to sign off any communication with the name Terry. Yet he did allow and encourage the interpretation of his art as an abrogation of space and time and, above all, history. In exchange, Barry slipped him an e-mail address with instructions to sign off any communication with the name Terry. Phase 1 begins at the bungalow when all four get into what Warren designated the G.T.A.V., or the Go-to-and-Away-Vehicle, all disguised as old men. The minimum-security Federal Correctional Institution in Ashland, Kentucky, 125 miles from Lexington, houses approximately 1,200 inmates in multi-story cellblocks encircled by concentric layers of razor-topped fencing and fortified guard towers. Chas cursed Warren as an incompetent, and condemned the other two as burnouts, demanding that the three figure out a way to get the books appraised so they could move on to the next phase of the plan. Warren and Eric got out of the G.T.A.V. It was hard for us. from an unsuspecting friend and got his hands on zip ties, a wool cap, electricians tape, and bedsheets. I know the collection is extensive and anything you think I might be interested in seeing, by all means, share, he wrote. Phase 3 is the escape, which involves switching the G.T.A.V. Spencer, feeling increasingly disaffected with school life himself, readily accepted the offer. Eric would stay on the main floor while Warren subdued Gooch in the Rare Book Room. Undeterred, Warren introduced himself as Terry, firmly shaking hands before sitting down. The whole operation would have to be completed by 12:30 P.M., as the boys say Chas needed to return the Dodge Caravan to his mother in time for her to sell it, and Spencer and Eric had to get to their final exams in sociology and tennis, respectively. They stopped talking entirely and disbanded. 's all-time most significant art-theft cases. sent a team to interview Melanie Halloran, who told the agents about her meeting with Mr. Stephens and Mr. Williams. In early February 2005, the F.B.I. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Spencer Reinhard Please send me the price list, I am interested in purchasing an original Reinhard After Audubon 2014 to Present After prison I took up a casual interest in birds. Its great to be the inspiration for this project., Two weeks into his stay, Reinhard, an ardent ornithologist, whose works draw inspiration from late Dutch-American abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning, feels that his greatest artistic asset is his versatility. I think we all knew that we wanted something different, and we had to break away from where we were living. Spencer Reinhard, Warren Lipka, Eric Borsuk and Charles Allen II were all between the ages of 19 and 20 at the time of the robbery. Spencer assembled a small wardrobe of fake beards, gray wigs, and costume glue. Spencer believed it was an insurmountable problem. We need to just get over this stuff, Eric tells me, explaining how Warren re-entered his life after their falling-out the previous semester. These peoples perspectives, because they have money, theyre tweaked., In October of his freshman year, Warren quit the U.K. soccer team, forfeiting his scholarship. We had a few pitchers, feeling each other out. They simply ignored him, and the four returned to Lexington. The press invariably described them as good boys from good familiesupper-middle-class kids afforded every opportunity, the ones with the most to lose. Dressed for success in a tailored dark-blue suit his parents had bought for special occasions and future job interviews, Warren cultivated the young-conservative look, using a Windsor knot on his red tie and giving his wing tips a last-minute buff. Between studying for his first semester's finals, working out, and painting, Spencer made time to scope out the Special Collections section of the Transy library, reporting back to Warren weeks later that there was zero security other than an old lady librarian named B.J. That night they had dinner at a Japanese restaurant, followed by drinks at the hotel bar, where Warren chummed up to an Iraq veteran, Spencer almost started a brawl after knocking a table full of drinks over, and Eric picked up a middle-aged Brazilian tourist. Warren also ordered four stun guns over the Internet. So we get the passport from the dude, plane tickets. In a duffel bag by his bed an F.B.I. Spencer was arrested in a simultaneous raid on his dorm room at Transy. Behind the main building and through three blastproof security doors is the prison visitors room, where I meet separately with Likpa, Reinhard, and Borsuk for a series of interviews almost a year into their sentence. Eric couldnt get hold of his friends car, leaving Chas to borrow a Dodge Caravan his mother was fortuitously selling the next day, the boys say. It was the sense of redemption that I hadnt anticipated. Several weeks before Spencer was approached by Warren about the fake-ID business, he had been on a freshman-orientation tour of Transy, including the library and its exceptional collection of rare books and manuscripts. Warren and Chas left the other two and staggered to the nearby China Club, a tacky West Side nightclub, which they knew about from the famous Rick James episode of Chappelle's Show. After high school I chose to attend Transylvania University where I would continue to play soccer and study art. I'm utterly curious about decision-making | Sharing lessons learned from the thousands of decisions I've studied and made | Founder https://www.resolve.blog. Spencer gives me 500 bucks, in my pocket. It had some tennis trivia in there that I wasn't expecting.. With each taking one end of the Audubons, they made their way to the staff-only elevator. He was whisked into a squad car. agents were sitting behind them the whole time, listening to their every word. If you were referring only to my paintings featuring birds, I would say its my ability to render the birds accurately, but in a way that gives them personality.. agents poured in over the wreckage. and having to sign a fucking book. By hitting the ball back into Warrens court, Spencer thought he would keep that thrilling flicker of criminality burning for a bit longer, while fully expecting there to be an insurmountable obstacle somewhere down the road. I'm expecting when I get up there it's going to be taken care of and I'm just going to start lifting books. I was in interaction with people from nearly every country in the Americas, he reflected on the time spent between prisons in Kentucky and Texas. I was kind of skeptical, continues Spencer, but the way I rationalized it was: it's the biggest auction house. They had reserved a room in the same Midtown Hilton that Spencer and Warren had stayed in nearly a year earlier. In the fall of 2003, Warren left for the University of Kentucky on a full athletic scholarship, eager to take his game to the next level, and with vague plans of getting into politics. Shop - Spencer Reinhard A selection of some of my works available in limited edition print. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. When Halloran inquired about them, Spencer spoke up and offered to fetch them from the car. Although the two hadn't really been in contact in the first few months of school, Warren knew that Spencer's artistic talents would be an asset. As they took their seats in the conference room, Warren explained that he and Mr. Stephens are the sole representatives of Walter Beckman, whom he described as a very private individual from Boston who had recently inherited several valuable rare books and manuscripts. Bam. Opposite him there is another young man, fully fleshed and with a neat haircut, resting in a chair, staring into space. What they would tell me, then, is their version of eventsand the only complete account of the planning, execution, and aftermath of the heist. Warren sectioned off a bedroom by hanging bedsheets from the rafters and furnished it with an old mattress and a tangerine easy chair he had picked up from Goodwill. His malaise was likely exacerbated by his parents' impending divorce amid his mother's allegations that his father, Big Warren, the celebrated coach of the university's women's soccer team, had gambled the family into bankruptcy. During a meeting in the basement, Warren convinced the other two that they were going to need a fourth, principally to help haul the nearly 250 pounds in Audubon folios out of the library. A few minutes later, a short, dark-haired young man, also dressed in a winter coat, cap, and gloves, entered the library. They checked into the Hilton Hotel in Midtown, Warren signing in under the nom de guerre Harry Ballsania name backed up with one of their fake Kentucky drivers licensesand paying in cash. Copyright 2023 The Gleaner Company (Media) Limited. Who do we trust?. Having told their parents that they were going on a ski trip to West Virginia, that weekend they loaded the loot into Erics Ford Explorer and took off on the 12-hour drive to New York for their Christies appointment. At 11 the next morning, Chas slipped the G.T.A.V. We live in 10 months of the year in Colombia and spend two in the States. In their senior year the two became local celebrities after a dramatic photo appeared in the Lexington Herald-Leader showing Lexington Catholic star goalkeeper Lipka and Tates Creek forward Reinhard battling midair during a playoff game. (Big Warren declined to comment on the gambling accusations at the time.) Eric and Chas dropped Warren and Spencer off around the corner from Christies. The painting, in digital form, would become a popular screen saver on the F.B.I. Failure to plan is planning to fail because if you don't plan anything, you might as well not plan at all. Reinhard is here for a monthlong working visit at the invitation of Bianca Bartley and Zuar Jarrett, the programme director and chairman, respectively, of the recently launched creative initiative in St Mary targeting local and foreign artists spanning various disciplines. Now the hard partwe have to steal them. I was nervous. Spencer had underestimated his friend's resolve. as we left we were going to make an anonymous phone call so they knew she was up here, Eric continues. But even at that point, it became apparent that Warren and Spencer wouldnt be able to pull it off alone. Again, Warren thought otherwise. Though I showed artwork briefly with Ann Tower Gallery, my career as an artist has been limited to private sales and commissions, including contributing a mural to PRHBTN in Lexington in 2018. Still shaken from her ordeal, Gooch, in her 50s, told police that shortly after entering the Rare Book Room with the two men she had been struck on the arm with a Taserlike weapon, her hands and feet were bound with zip ties, and a wool cap was pulled over her eyes. No response. Oh, yeah, he almost got shot, says Eric, laughing. In the morning, Warren says, he left two messages with Leckey's secretary and two more that afternoon. Having told their parents that they were going on a ski trip to West Virginia, that weekend they loaded the loot into Eric's Ford Explorer and took off on the 12-hour drive to New York for their Christie's appointment. Serving a seven-year prison sentence following his involvement in a notorious heist (portrayed in the film American Animals), Spencer Reinhard was committed to not losing "the best years of his life." He turned to his own art, determined to refine his craft and technique. After the Halloran interview the F.B.I. Hosted by And so I see Warren go back.. . The other was short and quiet, wearing a yellow jacket two sizes too large and a matching scarf. He looked like he was dressed from a thrift store, Halloran told the agents. Starting with a 1970s Pierre Cardin canary-yellow blazer that had belonged to his grandfather, he wore a dress shirt with an ostentatiously large collar and a gold silk scarf. As she inspected the items, Halloran dutifully took notes, then asked a few questions regarding their provenance, which Spencer answered as best he could under the circumstances. Again, Warren thought otherwise. Add to cart Category: Prints Additional information Abstraction allows me to explore multiple paths of my creative desire. The next morning, all nerves, he left for the meeting site, a caf within walking distance. That was the point all along. They were 20 steps ahead [of the librarian]. Believe me, you havent heard the last of us yet.. Thanks for the on my post. Chas backs up [the van] and almost hits the woman as Eric comes around to the door. In fact, wedged in their backpacks was nearly three-quarters of a million dollars worth of books and manuscripts: an 1859 first edition of Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection ($25,000), an illuminated manuscript from 1425 ($200,000), a set of the two-volume 15th-century horticultural masterpiece entitled Hortus Sanitatis ($450,000), 20 original Audubon pencil drawings ($50,000), and Audubons A Synopsis of the Birds of North America ($10,000). All four were brought to Lexington police headquarters and individually interrogated by F.B.I. And thats when I came up.. . In between soccer practice, classes, painting, and studying, Spencer drew detailed sketches of the inside of the Special Collections Library and the adjacent Rare Book Room, making several appointments with the Special Collections librarian, Betty Jean Gooch, to scout the premises. Among them was the 2002 photo from the Lexington Herald-Leader of Spencer and Warren playing soccer. Lifting a technique straight from the film Reservoir Dogs, Warren assigned code names based on color: Mr. Green (Spencer), Mr. Yellow (Warren), and Mr. Black (Eric)as in the film, emotions turned testy when he assigned Mr. She described one of the young men as about six feet tall, with bleached-blond hair, well dressed in a nice suit, and very talkative. The day of the heist was to be Thursday, December 16, one of the last days of final examsthe library would be nearly empty. Believe me, you haven't heard the last of us yet.. Only cannabis-smoking goalkeeper Warren Lipka . In terms of the dollar amount involved and the extraordinary circumstances, the theft was one of the most significant in its history. [This librarian] doesn't know what we're carrying, but she's like, Where did these kids come from? Eric says. To be such a big part of her life has been a joy. Like Barry, the men were immediately put off by Warren's youth, and even more so by the fact that he hadn't brought any of the books with him to Amsterdam. Reinhard mentioned a collection of lightly guarded rare books and art at the university library, and the two, while watching Hollywood heist movies, started kicking around the idea of stealing from the $20 million collection. Spencer would communicate with Warren from a cell phone, which Warren would steal from a student in the morning. My world view actually expanded. As a child he drew and painted and his abilities led him to consider a career as an artist whilst at High School. The boys readily agreed, and she escorted them through the offices to a small conference room. Eric had propped the folios on the steps with his foot when the librarian appeared at the top of the stairs, beside herself with rage after finding Gooch hog-tied in the Rare Book Room. 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a plan to fail spencer reinhard painting